CasaDeCase

There have been more than a few posts alleging that this is not "true" balsamic. Let's be careful, because, indeed, this is true, real balsamic.

I will re-post a version of my explanation from a previous offering on Woot.

The distinction has to do with classification which is discussed below. And,there are some new developments regarding the classification of balsamics less that 12 years old, which are Aceto Balsamico di Modena. There is now an IGP classification which guarantees origin and quality of the vinegar. These have been put in place to distinguish between good, real Balsamico di Modena and the industriale junk.

Botte Piccola conforms to the new IGP specification & carries the European seal on the bottle. And further, now Cavedoni is making this vinegar exclusively from must obtained from his own vineyards or 100% Trebbiano grapes.

The short answer is that Cavedoni Botte Piccola is not a tradizionale classified balsamic – and you wouldn’t want it to be, considering that we sell Cavedoni tradizionale wholesale to restaurants and specialty gourmet shops at the equivalent of $24/oz for a base tradizionale (it must be at least 12 years old; the Cavedoni we sell is 15) and $44/oz for an extravecchio tradizionale. (extravecchio = very old, and must be 25 years old; the Cavedoni we sell is 30 years old).

OK, that puts a 100 ml bottle on the retail shelf at $110 for the tradizionale and $210 for the extravecchio tradizionale. Notice I said 100 ml. Ouch! The Botte Piccola is 250 ml. No wonder the article referenced above states that “Tradizionale remains a curiosity for most consumers.” The Cavedoni tradizionale are also DOP certified, but that is another discussion.

Botte Piccola is a true “Aceto Balsamico di Modena” – Balsamic vinegar from Modena which falls into the general classification of industriale – or commercial balsamic. Here is where the consumer can get into real trouble. There production of tradizionale is very strictly controlled – see the details in the article, but not so for commercial balsamic. Even those made in Modena. They run the range from very inexpensive, poor quality stuff to very good high-quality vinegars.

The low end is very yucky tasting stuff made with lots of vinegar and additives like caramel for color, sugar for sweetness and thickening agents. When a waiter pours balsamic into the dish of olive oil on your table, this is what he is using – and by the way, the oil is lousy too, its bad quality masked by the sweet balsamic. Restaurants buy this concoction in plastic jugs for next to nothing and boil it down to use in salad dressing and glazes (yuck!).

The good quality balsamics which are under 12 years old are a completely different animal. They are made with integrity and no additives with the same care as the tradizionale. There are, however, still differences besides age. The most notable are that the initial cooking process (read the article) for the commercial balsamics is done at a higher temperature and for a longer period to give the sugar formation a jump-start. And, second, the must (this is the pressed grape juice that starts the process) is combined with vinegar. For the tradizionale no vinegar is used. The key to quality control here is not over cooking, and the percentage of must to vinegar. The good stuff is made with a lot more must than vinegar.

So what is a consumer to do? It’s not easy, but you can start with reliable merchants and sources (like Wine.Woot!) and getting recommendations from trusted sources. Also, armed with the little bit of knowledge presented here, the bottle label also tells a lot. Don’t be fooled by how fancy it is.

For instance here is what you will learn on the Botte Piccola label:

It is a real “Aceto Balsamico di Modena”

It is IGP certified

The ingredients list contains only two ingredients: “Cooked grape must and wine vinegar,” and notice the order – very important – more must than vinegar.

One last thing, if you read the article referenced above, you will see that tradizionale is aged in as many as five different types of wood barrels. Botte Piccola is aged only in oak, because that is what Paolo Cavedoni chooses to use for this product.

inkycatz

aderyn wrote:Favorite fast lunch: Half an avocado, fill the pit cavity with canned tuna (high-quality tuna is good, but even the cheapest stuff will taste great like this), drizzle the whole thing generously with this balsamic, eat and smile with every bite.

BRB LUNCHTIME... oh. It is only 10:45am, don't think that will go over well.

loreelu

I'm getting a bottle of this only because (1) the bottle looks really cool, and (2) to compare it to a bottle of 18-year aged balsamic that I purchased that was not nearly as expensive as this. I may be, or may have been, a sucker. I guess I'll find out in which case I sucked when this one arrives.

inkycatz

turbobuick86 wrote:hmmm... bought a case of wine 10 days ago and it hasn't yet shipped. Typical? I know woot is slow to ship, but this seems slower than usual.

How long is shipment going to take?
You should get your wine in 2-3 weeks, often sooner. We know the wait is kind of a drag. But it's still gonna taste good (maybe even better), and since we leave it to the wineries to get the wine to you, you can count on their experience to send their wine using their expert methodologies.

inkycatz

vademo0o wrote:I am having a difficulty to purchase it. The woot does not complete the transaction! Does anyone else also have the same problem?

Well, not having any specifics on what error messages you're getting, like is it PayPal? If so, be sure your account is backed by a bank or credit card.

We recommend the following steps in this order:
Try a different payment method
Try to contact your bank/credit card holder to make sure things are fine
Please note error messages
Contact support@woot.com for assistance.

deueltl

Another on strawberries person here, and in addition, meyer lemons cut paper thin thrown in make it *really* great. The spouse has also taken to putting a wee bit into our sauces for pizza night and it turns the bacon/applewood cheddar combo from great to phenomenal.

jawlz

Might have to go in on this. We brought back a bottle of 18 year balsamic from Italy 4 months ago (we tried some that were aged 40+ years too! Though once we got past 18 years we found it to just be too.... much? concentrated? thick? all those things? etc), and there is very little left in the bottle.

mike808

Recent ex-girlfriend managed to sneak my remaining bottle (unopened and still in the box, being displayed on an open kitchen shelf) into her stuff while moving out, and "trade" me for the now almost empty bottle I gave her last year before she moved in. I pointed out that I noticed the missing box. I guess she felt so guilty she put it back mysteriously when she moved out while I was at work that day.

I was disappointed when I noticed she "upgraded" her bottle, but not heartbroken, because I knew this item comes up in early December (and she didn't).

So in the end, I have a new bottle to share with/gift to my next lucky companion (on top of the 2 here), and the ex has maybe some cheap drain pour gone bad to wallow in at her new place.

CasaDeCase

Lots of idea abut recipes to use for this balsamic: here are two of my favorite Italian cookbooks that have a lot of recipes using balsamic. Both naturally are from the north of Italy, The Splendid Table focuses on the food from Emilia Romagna and Made in Italy on the food of Piemonte. The former has a lot to say about balsamic and using it. In the latter there is great recipe for liver with balsamic.... in fact, for cocktails at Thanksgiving my wife made a spread of chicken livers with lots of olive oil (nuovo of course!) and a few teaspoons of Botte Picola mixed in. Delicious....

mschauber

WD must have negotiated a HUGE allotment of this stuff. So much for all the predictions it would be sold out by the AM.

Any chance WW will put the real stats back up for us as far as #'s sold like before the site facelift?

--Hey you, out there in the cold; Getting lonely, getting old; Can you feel me? - Pink Floyd/Roger Waters"First get your facts, then you can distort them at your leisure." Mark Twain"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Derek Bokq1
My CT--

mawy

Recent ex-girlfriend managed to sneak my remaining bottle (unopened and still in the box, being displayed on an open kitchen shelf) into her stuff while moving out, and "trade" me for the now almost empty bottle I gave her last year before she moved in. I pointed out that I noticed the missing box. I guess she felt so guilty she put it back mysteriously when she moved out while I was at work that day.

I was disappointed when I noticed she "upgraded" her bottle, but not heartbroken, because I knew this item comes up in early December (and she didn't).

So in the end, I have a new bottle to share with/gift to my next lucky companion (on top of the 2 here), and the ex has maybe some cheap drain pour gone bad to wallow in at her new place.

Sweet, like this Balsamic.

Excellent confession! Who's next? I know there are others out there who feel guilty - or feel that they should feel guilty - about something to do with this delightful balsamic...

Hello, my name is mawy, and I have been a Cavedoni Botte Piccola Italian Balsamic devotee / abuser since 2009. I have promised many of the bottles I have bought as gifts, and followed thru on only 2 of them, and only cos my husband made me. I regret nothing.

polarbear22

loreelu wrote:I'm getting a bottle of this only because (1) the bottle looks really cool, and (2) to compare it to a bottle of 18-year aged balsamic that I purchased that was not nearly as expensive as this. I may be, or may have been, a sucker. I guess I'll find out in which case I sucked when this one arrives.

I have some 18 yo balsamic from an oil/vinegar store. Very nice stuff for salad dressings, etc. This really takes it to another level. When we use this it is often just a drizzle on its own. Or if in a salad dressing, only about 1/3 of the amount of the 18 yo. You'll notice the difference in taste and viscosity.

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